Kazakhstan - Working and dealing with the Kazakhs

Who Should Attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the Kazakhs

Objectives

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Kazakhs, enabling them to be operational right from the start.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Fully understand Kazakh context and culture
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand Kazakh decision-making and negotiation processes
  

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness, the key to success in international business

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• The basics of effective intercultural management
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Kazakh culture

• A Central Asian nation located at a meeting point between numerous civilisations
• A multiethnic society
• The heritage of the nation’s Soviet past
• An ancestral civilisation with a strong spoken and Islamic tradition
• An economy in the process of restructuring
  

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships

• A mixture of Slavic and Asian values
• A deep sense of national pride
• Widening social inequalities
• A refined sense of humour
• A communal tradiction
• The importance of appearances
• A flexible approach to time

4. The Kazakh corporate world

• The continued existence of Soviet practices and procedures
• Rigour and discipline
• A fast-changing, market economy
• Professional relationships

Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Kazakhs

1. Effective communication with the Kazakhs

• Paying careful attention to formalities and greetings
• A communication style based on a combination of reserve and subtlety
• The importance of networking
• All the complexity of a multilingual nation

2. Adapting your working methods

• Effective management: charisma, professionalism and inventiveness
• Getting to know people well in order to boost their output
• Open-mindedness and accessibility
• Supervising, organizing and inspiring
• Pitfalls to be avoided

3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Kazakhs

• Building trust and confidence: reliability and straight talking
• The importance of socialising outside work
• Time, priority and deadline management
• Understanding written contracts, their interpretation and implications
• Organising the post-negotiation phase

4. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Protocol and etiquette
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword